Firm nears completion of $100M LI plant upgrade

By: David Winzelberg August 25, 2017Comments Off on Firm nears completion of $100M LI plant upgrade

Kedrion Biopharma, specialists in collecting and separating blood plasma, is in the final stages of a $100 million upgrade to its Melville production facility.

The company’s 105,000-square-foot complex on 11 acres at 155 Duryea Road has been undergoing renovations since last year and the work should be completed this fall. The expansion will add about 80 new employees to Kedrion’s current workforce of more than 120.

The company processes about 2.5 million liters of plasma annually. The Melville property, Kedrion’s first and only U.S. production facility, was acquired in 2011.

Barga, Italy-based Kedrion produces and distributes therapeutic products used to treat and prevent certain rare and serious disorders, such as hemophilia, primary immune deficiency, chronic demyelinating polyneuropathy, and Rh disease of the newborn. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration just approved the company’s new rabies immune globulin for use in preventing rabies.

More than 150 construction workers who are members of the Building & Construction Trades Council of Nassau and Suffolk Counties, have been working on the project, including nearly 70 members of Steamfitters Local 638 who are installing 21,000 feet of a hygienic piping system.

Other improvements include a new specially designed HVAC system to control temperature, humidity and air pressure; new stainless steel tanks; upgraded automated washers; and a redesign of the entire facility’s interior that included an additional 2,500 square feet of work space.

“The sizeable investment Kedrion is making in the Melville plant once again demonstrates the commitment we have to exceling in the U.S. market and elsewhere,” Rudy Rosolen, Kedrion COO, said in a written statement. “When complete, this complex new construction project will help to ensure a ready supply of products on which a growing number of patients depend.”

The company received economic incentives from the Suffolk Industrial Development Agency and the Empire State Development Corp. to assist in its expansion and renovations.